The magician Pete McCabe describes scripting magic as the art of ‘deciding how how you’re going to present a trick before you perform it.’.
Scripting exists because there’s an understanding that, on some level, presentation is every bit a part of the work itself.
Scripting exists because there’s an understanding that, on some level, presentation is every bit a part of the work itself.
Book publishers understand this when they hire designers to create multiple prototypes of a book cover before converging on the best one because the cover does matter.
Comedians understand this when they spend an equal if not greater amount of time prepping the parts of a joke leading up to the punchline because humor doesn’t live in the punchline alone.
Delivering magic is a two-act endeavor involving the initial earning of attention and the holding of it. Performing both acts well requires that you care about the book as much as the cover, the story as much as the punchline, and the music as much as the choreography.
This video offers a fine example of the magicians Penn & Teller who, in mastering the art of scripting, have mastered the ability to deliver magic. Warning: while a fantastic feat, the trick is titled 'The nail gun trick'; viewer discretion is advised.
“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".”
seun
Nolan is a genius